Butterfly Forever
by Magick
Summary: a very sad fic about one of the pilots death. rated PG for death and slight language, I hope you like it, and don't forget to send me feedback


Disclaimer: these charas aren't mine, they belong to whatever person made them!  
Colin's syndrome is something I made up, ok?  
  
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Duo sat in the hospital waiting room, waiting for the results of his tests to come in. The other pilots had gone off on a mission, so he had thought this would be the perfect time to find out what was wrong with him. At first he had been able to live with the headaches, but over the last few months they had gotten to the point where he couldn't even walk. He had become withdrawn, and shockingly pale. None of the others had even noticed, 'except for Quatre' he thought to himself, nervously fiddling with the end of his braid. He sat in silence, trying to match his symptoms with any he had seen in the medical books Quatre had in his library. "Dizzy spells, headaches, muscle pain..." he said to himself. He was snapped from his musings when a young nurse in a white coat entered the room and told him to come with her. He stood shakily, and went, prepairing himself for the worst. But even in his worst dreams he couldn't have pictured this, or maybe, wouldn't let himself. "Mr. Maxwell, I'm sorry, but you have a disorder called Colin's syndrome, it affects the nervous system and the muscle structure in your body." she watched as he sat, or rather, collapsed into a nearby chair. "Is there a cure?" he asked, hope glimmering in his voice. The nurse sighed deeply, and checked her clipboard again, tears in her eyes for the young boy. "Yes, there is, but your too far along for it to be any good." She watched as his face fell, and he stood, asking one last question, "Is it terminal?"  
  
The braided pilot sat in his room, staring at the bottle of pills in his hand. "Fuck this," he said, slamming them down on his desk in anger. "Their not going to help me, and I only have another few months to live, damnit!" his tirade was cut off abruptly as he walked down the stars, and another dizzy spell hit him. He fell headlong down the stairs, and lay unconcious at the bottom until Heero and Trowa, Quatre and Wufei returned from their mission. "Duo!" cried the blonde pilot, rushing to his friend's side. They carried him to the living room and lay him down on the couch as gently as they could. Heero dabbed at his forehead with a wet cloth, where he had cut it open falling down the staircase. The rining of the doorbell is what woke him up at last, after nearly an hour. Trowa answered, only to be pushed aside by the Vice Foreign Minister, Relena Peacecraft.  
  
"Where is he?" she asked, clinging to Heero, who brushed her off and pointed to the living room.   
"How did she know?" Quatre whispered to Trowa as he to was pushed aside by the running blonde girl. Trowa just shrugged and followed her. Relena had pulled a chair up beside the couch, and was staring at Duo as if he had some horrible disease. The other four pilots just sighed, but they were all sent into shock when she spoke. "How long does he have?" she asked them, slightly worried, though for what reason was unknown, her and Duo had never gotten along well, and to have her worring over him made the other piolots wonder if something ws worse than met the eye. Heero was the one who broke the silence. "What are you talking about?" he asked, and she stared at him, her face paling slightly as she realized something. "You mean, he didn't tell you he has Colin's syndrome?"  
  
After relena left, and Duo was fully awake, they ot the chance to ask him what wa going on. He explained what the nurse had told him, ut then hehad to tell them the worst part. "I only have a few months to live, three at most." Silence reigned over the room, and nobody had much to say, a deadful silence spread over the room, like a heavy, choking blanket.  
  
"I always thought of him as the healthiest one," Quatre said later that night as himself, and Heero and Trowa sat around the table drinking coffee. WuFei had gone to speak with Sally and see if there was anything they could do, and Duo had long since went to bed. "We all did Quatre, if he had only gone to the hospital sooner..." Heero said bitterly, but he had no need. Or he wouldn't be dying. That line was heavy on everyone's mind, though nobody ever dared mention it. "We need that fifth pilot, how many times have we depended on him?" Quatre asked, bringing him mug to his lips. Again, nobody answered, for it was common knowledge that the braided baka was one of the best pilots. They all looked up as the door swung open and Wuei stepped in, his hair slicked with rain. "Is there anything?" Trowa asked him, and he just shook his head. "No, the honorable thing to do would be to let him die in peace." and with that, Wufei went up to bed.   
  
For the next two months, Duo got progressivly worse. Soon he wasen't even able to get out of bed. A heavy shroud of impending death hung over the household, he didn't have much time left, and they knew it. Heero was watching over him when he finally spoke. He looked up at him with clear amythest eyes glittering with unshed tears, and said, "Kill me." Heero's prussian blue eyes snapped wide with shock and he shook his head in disbelief.  
"I'm not going to." he said, his hands shaking.   
"Please Heero, I don't want to just waste away, give me some release, I'm a fucking Gundam pilot, and if I have to die, it's going to be by a bueet, not by a fucking disease!" he spoke passionatly, tears spilling own his pale, gaunt cheeks. This was just too much for the Perfect Soldier, and for the first time he could remember, he began to sob. "I can't let you go, I can't..!" he sobbed into his hands, Duo reached a slender hand up and rested it on his shoulder.  
  
Moring came, bright and sunny and warm. The first buds of spring were blooming, and the grass was soft and green. Small birds chirped in their nests. Duo breathed deeply, smelling the flowers and fresh grass, and listening to the birds. The rest of the house wasen't awake yet, and he was alone. "Just like I wanted to be." he whispered and sighed deeply. He looked around his spotless black room, and to his dark blankets. His eyes travelled to his too thin hands, pale and weak. "Goodbye, my friends." he said, closing his eyes for the last time.   
  
Trowa had first watch that morning, and he woke early and went to the dark room at the end of the hall. He opened the door and looke inside. Duo lay, cold and silent, but what surprised the tall clown, was his hand. On the palm of one of his hands, sat a small, monarch butterfly. Trowa sighed and brushed his hair away from his eye, pulling a sheet over the body, leaving room for the butterfly to fly away. "Shinigami will rise again." he said sadly, and quoted his lately dead friend, "and Shinigami will be back from hell." Butterfly's symbolize renewal, and they all knew, wherever their friend was, he was free of his mortal casing, and free.  
  
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ok, remember to gimme feedback, I lovvve it! and I just noticed that i have tendency to kill Duo, don't get me wrong, I love him, but that's just what happens!  
  
  
  



End file.
